NHL GMs approve hybrid icing

NEW YORK, N.Y. - NHL general managers have instructed NHL senior VP of hockey operations Colin Campbell to speak with AHL president Dave Andrews to move forward on testing hybrid icing and the Bowman or ringette line rule in the AHL next season.

The hybrid icing rule is designed to better protect vulnerable defencemen in races for the puck by using the offensive face-off circles to determine whether icing should be called or waved off.

The ringette, or Scotty Bowman line, will prevent players from passing the puck past the red line until they cross the faceoff dots in their defensive zone.

A new concept also discussed was "travelling penalties." The idea is that, in a playoff series, a player who takes a penalty late in the game has their penalty carried forward to the next game. A major penalty that occurs within the last five minutes and a minor within the last two minutes would be carried forward, assuming the team on the powerplay does not score.

The travelling penalties idea will be studied further before a course of action is selected.

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